Video Editing

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Hey everyone, long time no talk

I was planning on making a music video just for fun-

But I have a problem...

What is the best way to transfer video from a camcorder to a Mac?

Do you know what kind of cables I would need?

The type of camcorder I would be using is one that records to a mini-VHS.
(If that makes a difference at all)
 

rman


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What kind of ports do you have on the camera?
 
I

ibmac'n

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If you have a mini DV camcorder (digital) then you will need a firewire cable. If you have iMovie, it's pretty simple to import the footage into the mac.
If you have neither, ...well....er....I guess, a bit harder.

Sorry, I didn't read far enough where you explain your type of camcorder.
I understand you will need a device that converts your analog video to digital.
 
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if the camera can connect to the mac through firewire, there are apps that will let you take the vide to the mac. if your camera records to mini vhs, is it digital?
 
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mini vhs is not digital although some have convertors built into them... what you will have to do is buy a digital convertor. They are sometimes pretty expensive.
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecsplash/shop/detail.asp?dpno=344399

that is an example... i think the one above is mac compatible and their is probaly a cheaper one you just have to look.

Ecost is a good place to look they have been very good to me.
 
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Looks like I'm screwed then, unless I buy a new camcorder. The one my mom has that I was going to borrow is old, and waaay out dated. I can promise that it doesn't convert, much less have the ports needed to connect it to the Mac. Well shoot!
Thanks for the help guys
-Kev
 
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MUMacUser said:
Looks like I'm screwed then, unless I buy a new camcorder. it doesn't convert, much less have the ports needed to connect it to the Mac.

If you have access to a PC with a full-spec video card (i.e. with analogue-in ports) or capture interface then you could live digitise via the PC and then drop the resulting .avi file into Final Cut on your Mac in order to render the sound. I think you can achieve the same results straight onto your Mac if you have an external (e.g. usb) capture interface, but I am not sure, and do not know where to get these interfaces, or how much they cost, but if you're set on the camera then have a search.

To be honest, unless you've got loads of stuff on tape already, even the cheapest mini-DV camera will give you much higher quality than an analogue like yours, so it might be worth spending a few quid (bucks? Didn't notice your location, sorry!) on a new camera. You should be able to pick one up for about 150-200 GBP or equivalent, though obviously the more you can spend, the better.

If you do have existing footage to transfer, but are not going to keep the camera, then you can send the tapes out to be converted to DVD, though obviously you will experience further loss of quality due to compression.

One last thing - don't be tempted by those cheap solid-state camcorders - the footage will be shoddy and hard to edit.
 

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